20 - Sunday, February 19, 1989 - North Shore News

A Strong Past ... 2

It was 20 years ago today that
the News first came your way

community, when the paper
published its first Sunshine Girl:
“lL can still remember that day. It

THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER

parry

fitzet,3 A Strong Presence

IT ALL began 20 years ago today, when an industrious en-
trepreneur from West Vancouver went to work with 50

cents in his pocket.

‘1 was bankrupt, unemployed
and divorced, and I didn’t have a
driver's licence,’’ recalls publisher
Peter Speck, who began the North
Shore’s longest running communi-
ty paper, the North Shore News,
literally as a one-snan show.

In addition to publisher, Speck
wore the caps of editor, ad
salesman and janitor. ‘*! collected
the money and swept the floor.”

By EVELYN JACOB
News Reporter

together, and with the help of a
foan, published the North Shore
Shopper.

When the first edition of the
Shopper hit the stands in February
1969, a mere 6,000 copics were
delivered to homes in Capilano
and Highlands the first month,

In addition to publisher, Speck
wore the caps of editor, ad
salesman and janitor. ‘‘I collected

the money and swept the floor.”’

A former radiator mechanic,

Speck decided in 1969 that the time
had come for free newspapers. The
idea came to him when he was
working as an advertising salesman
for the Lions Gate Times after his
radiator business failed.

But he had a problem: how. to
start his own newspaper with only
50 cents.

Speck went down to the local
stationery store and invested his 50
cents in an invoice book, grabbed
a roadmap, and went door-to-door
selling a flyer that would be 100
per cent advertising. .

Finally he got enough money

the past several years and look forward to many :

and to Marine Drive and West

Vancouver the next.

The Shopper, which later
became the North Shore News,
was one of the first free papers in
Canada. It competed locally with
the Times and the North Shore
Citizen, both of which have since
folded.

“The first seven years were grit-
ty,”’ said Speck, but the News con-
tinued to serve the community by
reporting the issues of the day, ac-
ting among other things as gov-
ernment watchdog.

Speck still remembers one inci-
dent which raised eycbrows in the

more years of dedicated service.

_© AIR CONDITIONING .°

“© HEATING

© PLUMBING
@ GAS FITTING

© REFRIGERATION

DUKES & BRADSHAW

MECHANICAL LTD.

24 HOUR SERVICE 984-9391
1495 PEMBERTON, NORTH VAN

caused quite a furore, but it was a
refreshing shock to the North
Shore.”

The News continued to grow
and prosper and in 1977, the paper
published (twice a week, every
Wednesday and Sunday. By 1984 a
Friday cdition was added making
the News a thrice-weekly newspa-
per.

There have been about 20 at-
tempts by competitors to move in
on the News’ market, but Speck
has defeated them all, due mostly
to the loyalty of his advertisers.

Today the North Shore News is
the only community paper cover-
ing both North and West Van-
couver.

With 13 departments and a s.aff
of over 100, its initial circulation
of 6,000 has grown to well over
59,000 today.

Last year, Speck added three
monthly neighborhood papers to
his empire: the Capilano Chroni-
cle, the Lynn Vailey Echo and the
West Vancouver Villager.

Speck sold a 49 per cent interest
in the News last month to
Southam, a Canadian company
which owns a number of daily and
community newspapers in Canada.

But the man who began the
paper with 50 cents will continue
to hold on to his role as the
paper’s chief executive officer and
publisher, retaining 51 per cent in-
terest in the News.

No major changes are planned
for the paper for now, Speck said,
but he added his long-term goal is
to make the paper even more suc-
cessful. “J want the paper to be
bigger and even more pro-
sperous.”’

Z” CONGRATULATE @

THE NORTH SHORE #@

”~ NEWS ON 20 YEARS AS @

OUR COMMUNITY PAPER. @
Dukes & Bradshaw Mechanical Ltd.

“i

NEWS FOUNDER and publisher Peter Speck.

CONGRATULATIONS
NORTH SHORE NEWS

Best Wishes from
FLOWERS BY LILY

< ( Special flowers for all occasions

|

\ 3

deve, SBD-1331

HOURS: Mon-Fri. 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Saturdays 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
1921 RICHARDS ST., VANCOUVER, V68 3G7

Suppliers B the North Shove Mews:

|
Rowmey Artists’ Water Colours

wont” Bi <= Pelikan ©

rae ee Ey
WA Bellini: aapcer ain erusn co : oe: Lod
“"" Bainbridge PEE LF) cuemacicn El
pharwaz Bbicife DSUAEDTLER NHEHOOR,
chartpak Letraset